A human body houses a variety of bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus is a group of bacteria usually found in the human armpit, groin, nose and throat. The nares (nostrils) are heavily colonized predominantly with Staphylococcus epidermidis and corynebacteria. About 20% of the population carries Staphylococcus aureus in the nose.
Around 1960, methicillin, an antibiotic closely related to penicillin, was introduced to treat Staphylococcus infections. Shortly thereafter, a strain of Staph developed that was resistant to methicillin. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is typically resistant to the synthetic penicillins (methicillin, oxacillin, nafcillin), cephalosporins and other antibiotics, such as erythromycin, clindamycin, aminoglycosides, and quinolone. MRSA is usually responsive to vancomycin. Recently, however, a few strains of Staphylococcus aureus have developed some degree of resistance to vancomycin. The vancomycin-resistant strains may be more difficult to treat.
MRSA infections have increased since 1990. Many patients with MRSA remain colonized indefinitely. MRSA lives in the nose of about 1%-2% of people (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), usually without causing harm.
People colonized with MRSA can spread MRSA to other people. When a person has a break in the skin that is exposed to MRSA, an infection develops that is difficult to treat. Patients have a 30-60% risk of infection following colonization. MRSA colonization and infections have a significant impact on hospital and nursing homes. Because of its resistance to antibiotics, management of MRSA infections requires more immediate, complicated, toxic, and usually expensive treatment.
Cleaning the nasal membranes reduces MRSA colonization and decreases the chance of infection and the spread of MRSA. Current methods to clean the nasal membranes require improvement. The nose has two cavities, separated from one another by a wall of cartilage called the nasal septum. The external openings are known as nares or nostrils. Cleaning the nasal cavities is a difficult process because applying the necessary mechanical action to clean the nasal cavities requires enough pressure to clean, but care must be taken not to tear the membrane.
Current methods to clean nasal membranes include scraping, sponging, and the like. Devices are also available that use a solution or water to rinse the membranes. These devices provide incomplete cleaning. A device that combines mechanical action with rinsing would be an effective combination. A mechanical action/rinsing device that provides hydrodynamic flow within the nasal cavity where the fluid is suctioned and contained is needed to completely cleaning the nasal cavity membranes. A flow pattern that cleans in conjunction with mechanical action at a given area of the membrane would decrease the amount of bacterial colonization in the nose of a MRSA carrier.
It would be beneficial to find a better way to properly, repeatedly and consistently clean the nasal membranes of MRSA carriers. In order to clean the nasal membranes in a reasonable period of time, a device must provide sufficient surface area of the mechanical cleaner to accomplish its task. Both the mechanical action and the solution used to cleanse the membranes must be sterile and not provide further contamination of the membranes. A disposal tip capable of providing the mechanical action and delivering a sterile fluid is desirable. A device that introduces a jet of liquid to the membrane that applies the fluid intermittently with the aid of a motor is desirable. The jet action effects dislodging of bacteria due to the mechanical impact forces of the liquid, and the dislodged bacteria are then removed through suction and stored for disposal.